This is not the first time that, at the level of institutions in Kenya, we have witnessed the phenomenon of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing and vice versa. Or perhaps it does know, but has its own reasons for acting differently.
These days, the handover between the two telematic systems to enter Kenya (the only way allowed, given the abolition of the paper visa on arrival five years ago) is bringing this problem back to the surface.

After President William Ruto's announcement, on 12 December during the country's 60th anniversary celebrations, that from 1 January 2024 there would no longer be any need to pay for a visa and do that kind of online procedure to enter Kenya, it was announced on 22 December that ETA, an electronic travel authorisation system, already adopted by Great Britain and some other Commonwealth countries, would be opened. The system appeared to be operational straight away (a mistake on the part of the right hander, who had warned that the site was still in the 'testing' phase) and some people rushed to submit an application, not least because unlike the visa, it seemed easier to fill in and smoother, as well as cheaper (around €32 as opposed to €52 for the evisa).

After a few days, however, the site stopped and confirmation appeared that one actually had to wait until 1 January 2024, while it was still possible to make the 'old' visa, which would be valid (and will be, until declared otherwise) for the whole year.
As of 1 January, in fact, it seemed possible to book the ETA as of Friday 5 January. But for those who had applied in the previous days and paid accordingly, considering that it is written that the authorisation is issued in 72 hours, still nothing.
On 2 January, the left hand arrives: Kenya's civil aviation authority, KCAA, announces in a communiqué that those who want to arrive in Kenya can still apply for a visa, because the Etakenya site still has to be implemented and who knows in how many days it will actually be operational.
That too, until the next communiqué.
And off to do the visa.

This morning, 4 January, yet another twist!
According to the right hand, i.e. the Etakenya site, as of today you can safely apply for the authorisation, which will then be issued within 72 hours.
In the meantime, news arrives that could bode well for the joining of the two limbs: the first ETAs, which were still requested when the site was in the testing phase, in December, have arrived.

This means not only that the site is able to issue them, after payment, but that it should be operational.
Our experience of 'things from Kenya' tells us that the next step will be to see how the etakenya.go.ke site will hold up to the shock of thousands of daily requests, a problem that in the past has often also sent the evisa.go.ke site, which is still operational, into a tailspin.
In the meantime, the hope is that the dual ETA-Visto entry option will be extended as long as possible, at least until the new system is fully absorbed.